Offensively... He looks like a young Dwade. The way he moves, attacks and especially the shooting form.
Have you seen that "some French kid" play? Kid can be much better than Smith...he's already elite defender & only turning 19 in several weeks.
I repped him hard months before the draft, to me a PG like him is the best pick if you don't want to risk anything. Of course doesn't have the upside as taller two-way players, but a quick PG with nice handles, a good shot and passing is bound to succeed in the modern NBA.
I'm not saying this to be rude or mean... but no, he's not much better than Smith now and its crazy to think he could be. Could he be down the road? maybe... way down the road. Because Smith has (1) injury concern potential, (2) a wildness to his game that you can see similarly in the likes of a Francis, Westbrook that has to be honed and if not honed just ends up being wild, and because (3) Ntilikina just has better size and length than Smith. But right now, Smith is ready to contribute immediately and will get the chance to do so in Dallas. Smith looks like his floor is Steve Francis and his ceiling is Westbrook. Ntilikina looks like a floor of a Dante Exum type and a ceiling of a... a good Dante Exum?? Lol. I'm just shocked he got by both Chicago and NYK.
How is that not rude, tho? You have no proof to talk that Smith is better than Ntilikina now. You call a freshman that led his team to 15-17 record in NCAA a star, but he haven't proved anything as of yet. If you think Summer League means anything - look how Anthony Randolph did in the past. With his size he is awful defender & has no consistency with his offense either. No winners mentality & bad attitude don't do him any favours. Ntilikina at the other hand is already proven defender in Europe (about 50 games in top French league playing grown ass man), he can guard 1-2-3 positions in NBA with his 6'5'' size & 6'11'' wingspan. He is better than Smith now as all around player. Just because you never seen him play or heard of him, doesn't mean he is any worse than these one-and-done college kids..
I didn't call him a star yet. I absolutely know summer league stats don't always translate. but i also know they do often translate. most of today's nba superstars were very solid in their summer leagues. Someone on reddit did a study recently, actually. I'm also not just basing this on the last week of info. There's a reason nbadraft.net comped Ntilinika to Exum and draftexpress.com says "Ntilikina should be viewed as more of a slow and steady' prospect who isn't likely to provide much wow factor out of the gates like a De'Aaron Fox or Dennis Smith might." There's a reason Marc Spears tweeted this morning: "[Marc J. Spears] One long-time NBA scout said he believes Mavericks guard Dennis Smith will be the 2018 NBA Rookie of the Year.National Writer" Dallas/Cuban said they had Smith #2 on their board overall. Could just be blowing smoke, but then again Cuban also recently said they passed on Giannis 100% because he said no. Cuban isn't the type to just throw out random made up stuff. Look, I'm not trying to say Ntilinika won't be a solid NBA player. maybe even an occasional all-star. I'd be surprised if he was a consistent top 5 or top 8 PG in the league or 5+ all-star... but as you note, the kid is EXTREMELY young so who knows. He can play 20 years in the NBA for all I know. I'm just saying all the comps, and what I have seen of him, is is a silky smooth type player that isn't really explosive offensively but capable or can be capable whose biggest attribute, especially early on, will be defense. So why make fun of the NYK GM, then? Because the Knicks are in as close to a crisis mode as you can get from a PR perspective wrt its fans. Smith is like the opposite of Ntilinika. More ready to produce now. Explosive athlete. Explosive offensively. But not the same "bball IQ" or defensive potential. He's basically kind of what they need, not just on the court, but in terms of pure excitement. Certainly the scouts and prognosticators aren't always right. Maybe 95% of the people out there are wrong and Smith sucks and Ntilinika develops very fast and provides that intangible "winning" factor that is so very very very hard to put your finger on.
Franchise was WAY more talented, imo. That's this guy's floor? He can lead his team in Points, Rebounds and Assists? Jump 45 inches? Shoot 40 percent from three in his sophomore season?
That's a useless stat, really. Not even a stat. Steph Curry's never done that. Harden didn't do that this year. Hakeem never did that. Etc. Again, not really relevant. Shoot 40 percent from three in his sophomore season?[/QUOTE] Francis was a career 34% shooter from three. Which isn't bad. But you basically just cherry picked his above 35.4%, because he never did so any of his other years. Francis was a decent player with some solid years in there. But it was a very short lived career, filled with dumb basketball decisions, high level of turnovers (well, what used to be considered high, lol). I use hyperbole too much I guess. Smith could get injured. he could just not translate into the real games, so clearly his floor, as with any floor of any rookie, is basically not even being a rotation player. But do I PERSONALLY think Smith will have a better career than Steve Francis, a three time all star who came into the league at 22 and peaked very early, and didn't win much and made it to the playoffs 1 time... ... yes, i absolutely do.
Cameron Payne is such a ball-hog. I think we would never see him getting any consistent minutes in NBA..
Dennis a three time all star? I don't know man. Steve won plenty with the teammates he had. Outside of Cat our rosters were trash and you know this.
Just telling you what I project. Steve was not a winner. Who you play with obviously counts, but it is also something that isn't considered as much in retrospect. I'll just remember that Francis was on lotto teams with the Rockets, was then traded to the Magic where he got worse and they sucked and was traded to the Knicks and got worse and they sucked.
Shoutout to Htown area products Alex Caruso and Dearon Fox Caruso had an awesome clutch steal and alley that needs to be posted
Ha... all those SAC fans watching their prized young players lose to Lakers 2nd rounders + free agents led by Alex Caruso in a packed house.
